Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler Review

A Closer Look at the Gelid Tranquillo Cont'd

The four heatpipes the Gelid Tranquillo sports are of course the smaller 6mm and not the larger and beefier 8mm variety.

In what is becoming a recurring theme, the Gelid engineers did go for an interesting design choice when they laid out the heatpipes. The heatpipes are in a standard U shape configuration but the have been clustered in what can only be described as a double “C” shape. You could almost call this a “half diamond” pattern similar to those found on a TRUE or any other cooler with many, many more heatpipes. It certainly is an interesting design and if we were to hazard a guess we would say this odd arrangement was found to be the most efficient as the back heatpipes have a greater chance of not being blocked by the front ones (i.e. not in their air “shadow” or dead space).


While all the above features are unique and have the potential to increase the efficiency of the heatsink, there is still one crucial feature which can make or break any cooling product: the base.

Once again Gelid has opted for a non standard approach with the use of a copper base. While this is not the first non-coated copper base we have seen, it's still nice to see one used in a budget-friendly product. We can honestly say that while copper can tarnish with time, it is a great base material which should help evenly distribute the heat to not only the four heatpipes, but also the thin secondary fin array. Unfortunately, you can see in the above photo that this base is far from perfect and really, really needs a good sanding. Will this affect temperatures? Probably not all that much since it is the job of the thermal compound to “fill in the gaps” so to speak.


The 120x25mm fan which accompanies the Gelid Tranquillo is of course an “in house” design by Gelid. This does make perfect sense as they do have the expertise and experience to make a good fan…so why outsource if you don’t have to? It uses a Hydro Dynamic bearing which basically makes it an FDB-totting unit. As such, it should prove to be very quiet, especially when we consider the fact that Gelid states it runs between 750-1500RPMs. At its maximum speed it is rated to move 58 CFM and do it with a moderate 1.6mm of static pressure.


The Gelid Tranquillo fan is not only 4 pin PWM capable but is also fully sheathed in a nice black nylon braid. All in all we like this fan but there is one thing worth noting and that is the fact that while it is obviously a Fluid Dynamic variant, it doesn’t have the same longevity as a true FDB. While we put almost zero stock in MTBF numbers, when you see only 50,000 hours, you have to wonder if this was done to help further reduce noise at the expense of longevity.